"Doctor doctor, will I die?"
"Yes my child... and so will I."
(anon)
It's true for you and me too. Meanwhile, let's find some meaning for ourselves, enjoy the beauty and do things that won't leave a mess for our kids and their kids.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A fresh morning...

View of sunrise from our current living room window (Hawaii)

Oh what a fine day for America and the world. May it set the tone for the cloudy times ahead... I was so pleased to hear President Obama speak to the world as well as the American people. I'm tired of hearing about expectations and the fact that he can't meet them - of course that's true. But what is needed most in the world today is a change of tone, a change of heart, a coming together, inner strength... all those good things that help me feel positive and not give up.

Okay, enough of me. Here's Elizabeth Alexander's poem from the inauguration. IMeant to be read aloud if you have time for it again. I love it...

Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

Very inspiring. I loved the words to the poem also, except that I had a hart time accepting it as a poem. Despite using this attractive ancient form it was more in keeping with an inspiring speech or a wordy prose rather than of a poem.

Aloha to you in your beachfront tropical bliss. Oregon weather where I am at is relatively tame- the usual wet/cool stuff, but nothing I have to shovel, or slide on. A new day has dawned here, but as Obama makes his picks, other politicians keep coming up with baggage or issues, or outright felonies. Jeez!

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About Me

I live in Nelson BC Canada. I have one lovely Anna, two adult kids (in New York and Montreal), a small house in downtown Nelson, an interesting career as a consultant and lots of other interests, including working for human rights (through Amnesty International and Peace Brigades International mainly).